


Is that good or bad? I can't tell

by Lindarn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Swap, Gen, Imma add tags as I go, Same world but still different, Swearing, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 06:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21387373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lindarn/pseuds/Lindarn
Summary: He thought that making his way through a forest and finding a road would have been easy but no, things could never be so simple could they. After getting lost and walking aimlessly for hours he stumbled upon a clearing out in seemingly nowhere. There he meets a strange man with a glimmering cloak and finds out that he is so much more that he thought he was.A wizard.Tom is cast into a world of unknown. He learns about things he never thought could have existed and he with the help of Harry, learns how to control magic. But over time, he starts to wonder. Is Harry really who he says he is?
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle
Kudos: 4





	Is that good or bad? I can't tell

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time actually posting a fanfic I've written so I'm not very used to how ao3 works. Please do tell me if I've done anything wrong in setting it up. I read a ton of Harry Potter fanfics in a short time and those are what inspired me to write this. I'm probably gonna get a lot of cannon stuff wrong since it has been years since I actually read the real books, but I'll just try to make it work anyways. Enjoy!

Tom stumbled through the forest with no real destination in mind. He shivered for what felt like the millionth time as another wind went by, chilling him through his thin second hand clothes. His shoes had long been ruined as they were muddy and torn from the forest floor. The night before it had rained, making Toms little stroll through the forest a treacherous one.

But no matter what, he wouldn't let it deter him. He had been living his whole life like a living hell, and he was tired of it. He had had enough of the orphanage and he was determined to make a change. Exactly what kind of change he wasn’t sure, and to be honest what he was doing was a rather stupid thing to do. But Tom didn’t care, he coulnd't bring himself to.

Tom always got what he wanted one way or another, and if he had to run away to get it, then run he would. It left a bitter taste on his tongue. To run away almost felt like letting the orphanage win, but to stay would mean more torture. It was too late though, he had already made his decision and to turn back now was no option. Plus even if he wanted to go back he wouldn't be able to, he was lost in the forest. Had been for a while actually.

He didn’t know when it happened. Before he had promptly ran into the forest, he had found out with the help of the map hanging in the middle of the town, where the closest road would be and what path he would have to take to get to it. But it had been a while now and there was no road in sight. He guessed that keeping a straight line while walking through a thick forest with no compass or map was a pretty dumb thing to do.

Tom let out a heavy sigh. He should have snatched the map before he went out, but he simply hadn't had time. His escape window had been narrow and when the opportunity came he bolted without hesitation.

Tom didn’t know for how long he had been wandering in the woods, it felt like hours for sure but Tom knew not to rely on intuition alone. All he knew for sure was that his legs felt sore and his feet had been hurting for ages.

He wouldn't admit it but as the minutes went by he started to feel worried. A slow creeping feeling had started to settle inside his chest. It felt heavy, filling his lungs and clogging his throat. It became difficult to breathe. He started to move just a bit faster. He wouldn't die out here, would he? Gone and forgotten. Nobody would go look for him, and there was no roads near either. What would happen if he didn’t make it out of the woods? His breathing became ragged, thoughts swirled inside his head and before he knew it he was in an all out sprint.

To die so young and by such a stupid thing was not the way Tom wanted to go out. He didn’t want to go out at all in fact and if he had to it wouldn't be in such a pitiful way. He ran with legs throbbing. His breathing came out ragged and uneven as he hurtled across the forest floor.

The air around him seemed to close in and the more he ran the tighter it got. It surrounded him, hugging every corner of his body. Moving became difficult, it felt like he was running through thick syrup and not to even mention breathing. It hurt, it straight out hurt. Every intake of air felt like a punch to his chest as a thousand bricks invaded his lungs.

He fought it with all his might. Even though his whole body screamed in protest and agony he forced himself to move. Afraid of what might happened if he stopped for just a second. What would happen? He wasn’t sure but he wasn’t about to stop and ponder about it. With one last push of his legs he managed to get through.

Suddenly all the pressure that he had felt was gone. He took in a ragged breath with the desperation of a starving man. He staggered a few steps forward before he fell down to his knees. He didn’t register the pain of it, too focused on getting his breathing even again.

He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but he was sure that if he had hesitated for just a moment, then he wouldn’t be breathing at all. Tom shuddered. Just the thought of what could have happened startled him a bit. Tom shook his head, for him to be left so shocked hadn’t happened in years. And for him to just throw caution to the wind like that was not like himself at all. He took in a large breath of air and tried to calm down. The fresh air felt heavenly compared to whatever he had just experienced.

After a few seconds of just sitting on the ground and catching his breath, he looked up. And what he saw startled him. He was in an open clearing. In the middle of it stood a small cottage made out of wood, but next to that was something he had never seen before.

There stood a tall tree with such a dark brown trunk, it was almost black. But it was it’s leaves that were truly shocking. They were blue, blue! And not only that, Tom thought he imagined it but they were glowing, as in they were emitting light! Tom gaped at the tree. _What the fuck?_

A cough snapped him out of his daze, and his eyes shot down to a bench under the tree. Or rather, the person on it.

There on the bench under the strangest tree Tom had ever seen in his life, sat a startling average person. Out of all the types of people Tom would have thought of would sit under a_ glowing tree_, that person was not even on the list.

He was the literal definition of average. With brown bushy hair and a slim stature. The only noticeable thing about the man was his striking green eyes and the glimmering cloak he wore over, what Tom thought was, the most common outfit one could possibly have. In his hands he held a book, but being too far away Tom couldn't make out any details about it.

“Erm, are you okay?” The mans voice was light with an uncertain tone to it. Looking at his face, Tom saw that he had furrowed eyebrows and was staring at Tom with a puzzled look.

“What?” Tom said intelligently. He was still reeling from the shook both from what the fuck he had just walked through, and then seeing a glowing tree!

The man was about to repeat himself when Tom cut him of, “No, I’m not okay. What the fuck is that?” He gestured at the tree. Realising he was still sitting on the ground, he bolted up and stood upright. He stumbled a bit before he found his posture.

The man blinked at him, clearly not expecting his outburst. He bent his neck and looked up at the tree above him. He looked down again with a very confused look. He was silent for a few seconds before he said, “What do you mean?”

Tom spluttered and was at a loss for words. He stared baffled at the man before he yet again gestured at the tree, adding more force to his movements this time. The man blinked at him yet again and then just tilted his head in response.

Tom let out a frustrated huff. He wanted to go forward and shove the man off the bench, but he was reluctant to go near the tree. It sure as hell wasn’t normal, just like whatever he had experienced before he came into the clearing. What if it was dangerous? The other kids at the orphanage would have called him a coward for not walking forward, but he hadn't made it this far in life by being reckless.

Tom gave the tree a suspicious look. He debated with himself if it was best to just turn around and continue walking endlessly through the forest, but he decided against it. He didn’t want to risk going through whatever it was he had gone though again. He wasn’t sure if he could make it through this time. So the options he had was to either walk around the tree and hope to find a spot where that suffocating pressure wasn’t present, or to walk up to the man by the tree and talk to him. None of those two options sounded appealing.

Yet again, even if he found a safe way out of the clearing, where would he go? He had no idea where in the forest he was or how close he was to civilisation. His best bet was probably to ask the man for directions, he seemed to live here after all. Or at least he was staying here for the summer. Either way he probably knew where the closest road or village was.

The man didn’t seem dangerous. Actually he seemed pretty harmless. From what Tom could see, the man was pretty thin for an adult and it was clear he didn’t regularly train. He was still an adult of course so he was probably still stronger and faster than Tom, but if it came to it, Tom could probably use his gift to overpower the man. He had had plenty of practise fighting against the other kids at the orphanage, most of them even being twice his size.

With a little hesitation, Tom took a few steps forwards. When nothing happened Tom started to walk more confidently. His whole body was tense as he walked towards the man, but he forced himself to calm down. He blanked out his face making is seem like he was way calmer than he actually was. Even though it was just a few meters distance, walking it felt like it took years. Every second, Tom anticipated that something would happen but at last, nothing did.

When he made it to the bench he stopped just a meter or so away from the man. The man had stayed silent after Tom's little outburst and was now looking at him with a strange, almost confused look. Like he couldn't believe something about this whole encounter.

They both stared at each other for a few seconds before the man broke the silence, “Can I help you?” He asked politely but still with that uncertain tone in his voice.

Tom had so many questions. About the clearing, whatever was around it and _for the love of god was is up with that tree_. But he restrained himself and took a step back to look at the whole picture at hand. Whatever this place was, it wasn’t natural. For his own safety, the best thing to do was to find a way out of there as quickly as possible. But something about the place felt familiar. Like he had just met an old forgotten friend of his he had never even had in the first place. It was a weird yet comforting feeling. And even though he knew he should be scared of that feeling, he couldn't help but feel curious.

“What is this place?” Tom eventually asked. He knew he should actually ask about a way out but he just wanted a few answers first, just a few.

The man blinked at him, “It’s my home,” He paused for a second, looking around at the clearing before he added, “I guess.”

Tom quirked an eyebrow at that, “You guess?” He had never heard anyone sound so unsure if their home was actually their home before, and he had lived at an orphanage.

The man looked at the cottage for a few seconds with a perplexed look before his eyes cleared and he turned back to Tom, “Yeah, I guess.”

Toms could already feel his frustration with the man build up, but he ignored it in favour to his curiosity. He already knew that talking to this man would be a hassle but he was determined to get answers. Not being able to hold it in anymore Tom glanced at the tree and asked, “What is up with that tree?”

Being closer, the tree looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. The leaves were glowing and looking closer at them, Tom noticed that they had a strange, dark and very visible nerve pattern. Now and again a leave here and there would fall down and crumble to dust before hitting the ground. Tom hadn’t notice it before but the tree had fruits, which noticeable was even weirder than the rest of the tree. They were like dark blue blobs that didn’t resemble anything Tom had ever seen. They had purple bulges on them that covered theirs surface and they hung from very thin, black stalks that looked like they would snap any second.

The man turned around and glanced at the tree before he answered, “Oh, It’s nothing special. Just some random magic tree I think. Doesn’t look like anything from this region though, so I’ve got no clue what it is.”

Now it was Tom’s turn to blink at the man, “Magic tree?” He said slowly, “Are you joking? I might be young but I’m not stupid.” He sneered at he man.

The man seemed genuinely shocked at his reaction. He leaned back and his eyebrows shot up to his forehead. He stared at Tom for a few seconds before a look of understanding slowly crept onto his face. His previous demeanour of lazy contentment slowly eased away as he started to visibly pay more attention to their conversation. He straightened his back and leaned forward a bit as a small smile came upon his face. There seemed to be spark in his eyes that weren’t there before. “Say,” The man begun, “Have you ever been able to do things that you can’t quite explain? Things that might seem impossible?”

Toms eyes widened. _What._

The mans smile grew at his reaction. Tom promptly closed his mouth with an audible click. He narrowed his eyes at the man. How did he know? How did he figure it out? So many questions were running through his head he almost forgot to respond. “And what if I have?”

The mans smile didn’t waver at all at his sharp tone, it only seemed to stretch wider. “What’s your name, kid?”

Toms eyebrow twitched at the nickname. “What’s yours?” He wasn’t about to give his name out to this stranger just like that before knowing his. Whatever the man knew, how he acted made him instantly suspicious.

The man quirked an eyebrow at him, “Name’s Harry. So, what’s your name?”

Tom glared at the man before he sharply replied “Tom.” He felt a bit relieved that Harry hadn’t said his own last name, it made so that Tom didn’t have to give out his own. His first name he could give, but to give out his last name would just be asking for all kinds of trouble.

“Tom,” He said, “You’re a wizard.” The man, Harry, seemed genuinely happy as he said it.

Tom stared at him baffled, “I’m a what?” Harry was about to repeat himself when Tom cut him off, “No, I know what you said but what the fuck?” Tom gave Harry a disbelieving look shaking his head, “I literally met you only a few minutes ago, and now you’re telling me I’m a wizard? Are you okay?” Tom leaned forward in mock worry.

Harry's smile turned into a pout. “Well, okay. It might seem absurd-”

“You don’t say.” Tom deadpanned.

“But!” Harry continued on as if he didn’t hear him, “It’s true! And I can prove it.” Harry’s smile returned as a grin.

Tom stared at him unblinkingly. The man must be mad for sure. No one knew about Tom’s gift, he had made sure about that. The closest anyone came to knowing of it was a few kids at the orphanage who had a hunch that something more might be going on, but even they had no solid proof. This man, this stranger that he had never meet before in his whole life, could for sure not know anything about Tom. He was probably just spouting gibberish to get Tom riled up.

Harry took in the flat look Tom gave him before his grin turned mischievous. Tom was instantly on edge. Harry closed the open book he had on his lap and held it out towards Tom. Tom looked down at the it. It’s cover was worn and torn and it had a few scratch marks here and there with the edges curling. Tom assumed that the book had once been bright red but over the years it had faded into a brownish orange. The spine of the book was dark brown and the title of it was completely chipped off, Tom could only make out a few letters but nothing coherent.

When Tom didn’t move to take the book Harry quirked an eyebrow at him and moved the book closer to him. Of what Tom could see the book seemed harmless but with that mischievous grin Harry was wearing, it made it hard to not be suspicious. But against his better judgement he eventually reached out an took hold of the book.

He held a loose grip on it for a few seconds but when nothing happened he tightened his grip and took it from Harry’s hands. Even though he knew he really shouldn't be careless around strangers, especially with that grin Harry had, Tom was very curious and with what Harry had said before giving the book to him, he couldn't help but feel a bit hopeful. If the book had any information about Tom’s gift he wanted to know it as fast as possible. If he knew more about what he was using he could probably use it better and more efficiently.

But the longer he looked the book over, the more disappointed he got. Like the cover, it all around looked like a very old and very well read book. If he had to guess the book was probably at least a few decades old and had been going down in generations. Opening it up it wasn’t much different from the cover. The pages had a yellowish tint to them and were wrinkly. Some even had tears in them and a few were just completely gone.

But it wasn’t how unkempt the book was that had Tom disappointed, it was what was written in it. Quickly skimming through a couple of pages, it was clear that the book had nothing about his gift. It was just some random fantasy novel with no useful information at all. It all was just fiction.

Tom promptly shut the book when he realised this and glared at Harry. Before he could say anything about it though the book suddenly lit up in flames. With a surprised yelp he threw the book away from him. It flew through the air above them before landing with a thud on the ground.

Tom took a few steps back and stared at the book, thinking that it would do something more. But as the seconds went by Tom was instead left dumbfounded as he noticed that the book, even though it was on fire, wasn’t burning. It laid there on the ground with flames swirling all around it and was completely unharmed.

He heard snickering at his side. Tom’s gaze shot up to see Harry hiding his mouth behind a hand trying to suppress laughter. The first thing Tom felt was a low burning feeling building up in his chest. It got heavier and heavier by the seconds and the only thing Tom wanted to do right then and there was to hurt the man in every possible way. But just as quickly as it came it was gone.

Toms eyes widened as he snapped his gaze back to the burning book. He ignored Harry as he walked forwards and put one of his hand close to the flames. They weren’t hot. They weren’t hurting him like a normal flame would. Tom quickly picked up the book and was in awe as the flames didn’t scorch his skin. In fact they were quite nice. A low warmth that was neither too cold or too hot. Just pleasant.

Tom turned the book over in his hands once more checking for any marks. Just as he had suspected, there was no evidence at all that the book was aflame. It was left untouched.

“How?” His voice sounded quiet to his own ears as he said it.

“It’s magic.” Tom turned around and gawked at Harry. Unlike what he had been expecting, the mans mischievous grin from before was gone and it had been replaced with a soft look on his face.

Right then and there everything just seemed to click into place. There didn’t seem to be a better word to describe Tom’s gift, no, Magic! That was what it was. Tom accepted the name without hesitation, like if he had knew it all along but had just forgotten until then.

He smiled genuinely for the first time in years.


End file.
